Indymedia is so much better than professional journalism, in my opinion. No self-obsessed by-lines, at least here in Britain, accountability towards the reader and the other indy volunteers, no hierarchies, and instant possibilities of the reader to contribute opinion, clarification and corrections make Indymedia a much more happy community news resource than any other mainstream media outlet.
Not that the amount of conspiracy theories would not be bothering – the slight flaw in the Indymedia philosophy of “discuss it all out and the truth will eventually win the argument” is that hardly anybody has the time to read and investigate facts and opinions and to really discuss them out. Contributing to this is the abuse readers and contributers throw sometimes at each other, “trolling” can piss of folks who don’t yet understand the “open publishing principle” and just stroll along accidentally .
But in the mainstream media you have a lot of twisting the facts, spinning and exaggeration for entertainment puposes.
One of the most recent examples is the Guardian’s interview with Noam Chomsky by Emma Brockes.
Medialens put out a critique and collection of statements by Noam Chomsky to reveal how twisted his quotes became.
Chomsky was voted the world’s greatest intellecatual and interviewed on this occasion.